Sen. Hirono: “We should be calling him back so that the American people can find out what it is that this man plans to do, as he intends to very clearly abuse his power at the FBI all for his own ends and for that of the President, to which he is 100 percent loyal.”
~ Video of Sen. Hirono’s remarks is available here ~
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against advancing Kash Patel’s nomination to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) out of committee.
“The American people deserve to know where he’s coming from,” said Senator Hirono of Mr. Patel in today’s hearing. “We should be calling him back so that the American people can find out what it is that this man plans to do, as he intends to very clearly abuse his power at the FBI all for his own ends and for that of the President, to which he is 100 percent loyal. That is his biggest qualification to be FBI director, which is not much in my view.”
Last month, during his confirmation hearing, Senator Hirono pressed Mr. Patel on several of her concerns regarding his fitness to serve as FBI Director, including his history of spreading misinformation relating to the 2020 presidential election, COVID-19 vaccine “detox” supplements, the January 6, 2021 insurrection, and a list of people he believes comprise the “Executive Branch Deep State.”
Senator Hirono also spoke out against the Trump administration’s purging of dozens of senior, career FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) employees in recent weeks. The Trump Administration has also demanded the names of over 5,000 FBI agents who were assigned to work on matters related to the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“Make no mistake, our nation is under constant threat—both foreign and domestic—and purging hard-working and dedicated civil servants does nothing to make us safe,” said Senator Hirono. “Rather than focusing on potential attacks, hacks, or violent criminal enterprises, we have a DOJ and FBI that have been turned inward on themselves.”
The full transcript of Senator Hirono’s remarks is below. Video of her remarks is available here.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't think that the American people were up in arms about purging the Department of Justice or the FBI. I don't think they were up in arms wanting a stop to, or freeze, to federal grants to states. I don't think they were up in arms calling for the NIH to take action that will result in the halting of medical research. No, what they were up in arms was let's lower the price of food, milk and bread. They are still waiting.
So here we are, Mr. Chairman, talking about the nomination of Kash Patel. This man has so many red flags about why it is completely inappropriate to have him as the head of one of our most important law enforcement agencies, that it makes your head spin. One thing is very clear about Kash Patel—he has 100 percent loyalty to Trump. That is the most critical thing for President Trump.
We are at a crisis point and this committee, if it plans to conduct any oversight, it must do so now. Here's what's happening at the FBI: Dozens of senior career FBI and DOJ employees have been purged, more to come; 5,000 names of the agents and personnel who worked on January 6 matters—their names are there. What is supposed to happen to these people? I don't think they’re going to get commended for their work on January 6. So, hundreds or thousands of line prosecutors and FBI special agents and analysts may be purged.
Make no mistake, our nation is under constant threat—both foreign and domestic—and purging hard-working and dedicated civil servants does nothing to make us safe. So what is happening with the FBI and DOJ is that they've turned inward. Rather than focusing on potential attacks, hacks, or violent criminal enterprises, we have a DOJ and FBI that have been turned inward on themselves.
Attorney general Bondi's announcement to weaponize—in creating a “weaponization working group” last week only continues this trend. Through this working group, she is doing what she told us she would not do, and that is, we asked her: Are you going to start investigating the investigators? Prosecuting the prosecutors? What is this weaponization working group supposed to be doing but investigating the investigators and prosecuting the prosecutors? Turning inward on itself rather than protecting this country from external dangers.
I fear what a DOJ and FBI focused inward on themselves means for the safety and security of our nation—not much. Which brings me to Mr. Patel. He is not the man to answer the many challenges of the moment. Mr. Patel spent his nomination hearing avoiding every hard question.
I asked him if he would investigate people on his 60-person “Deep State” list. He would not say no.
Mr. Chairman, we are sitting here, continuing to point out all of the red flags on this person. We, Democrats, are going to continue to raise the red flags on this person. And at some point, I'm hoping that maybe we’ll come to a “have you no decency” moment from my Republican colleagues.
Continuing, I asked him if he profited from selling supplements to “detox” the COVID-19 vaccines. He did not answer.
I asked him if Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. He would not answer.
He claimed not to know an antisemitic extremist named Stew Peters—despite appearing 8 times on his podcast. See, the fact that he doesn't even answer, remember, whatever, makes me think that he thinks coming before this committee under oath is something that he could just ignore with no consequences. And apparently, that is the road we are on.
And he tried to claim no involvement with the January 6th choir—despite promoting them and hawking their merchandise for years.
And he was unwilling to provide any details about his grand jury testimony. Testimony he was compelled to give after taking the Fifth. People who take the Fifth are using it to protect themselves from self-incrimination. Of course, Mr. Patel has the same right as any American to plead the Fifth, but we have an equal right to ask him—as the nominee for FBI Director, no less—why he did so and to learn what he ultimately testified.
The one thing Mr. Patel did testify to, in response to a question from Senator Booker. I thank Senator Booker for asking his question about whether he was “aware of any plans or discussions to punish . . . FBI agents or personnel associated with Trump investigations” and he said he was “not aware of that.” But we note that, in fact, he had an awareness and, in fact, he’s proceeding to purge the FBI. He's not even the Director.
I join my colleagues in once again calling for us to actually get the answers from Mr. Patel. The American people deserve to know where he's coming from. This is a person who’s going to use the FBI for his own purposes. He will abuse his power in the FBI. We have had my colleagues say that we will regret the day that we vote for him. We should be regretting it right at this moment and we should be calling him back so that the American people can find out what it is that this man plans to do, as he intends to very clearly abuse his power at the FBI all for his own ends and for that of the President, to which he is 100 percent loyal. That is his biggest qualification to be FBI director, which is not much in my view. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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